ST. GEORGE — A missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died soon after arriving in South Africa, according to a statement from the church Tuesday.
Elder Zane Lamping, 19, of Moapa, Nevada, was assigned to serve in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission and entered the church’s Missionary Training Center there Nov. 22.
Lamping collapsed at the training center while exercising and was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead, church representative Daniel Woodruff said in the statement. The cause of death is currently unknown.
In the wake of Lamping’s passing, his family posted on his Facebook page thanking those who had offered support. They also offered others the opportunity to share any photos and memories of Lamping they had on the post.
“The Lamping family would like to thank all who have offered their love through messages, food, visits and especially prayers,” the post states.
“Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones,” Woodruff said. “We pray they will feel the love of our Heavenly Father during this difficult time.”
According to LDS church’s statistics, the church currently has over 65,700 members in South Africa, which makes up 183 congregations. The church also has a temple in Johannesburg and maintains four missions spread across the county.
There are also currently over 65,000 missionaries serving in 407 missions worldwide.
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That’s so sad.
It is. If someone asked me to go live in s. africa for 2 years I’d say no way jose.
So sorry to hear that. Prayers for the family. We are reminded that tomorrow is not promised to us.
So very sad. And I truly feel for his family. But this seems a bit suspicious to me (at this point) and I question what exactly was going on here mainly because I have issues with anything that states “assigned to serve” but I regress , wouldn’t want to offending someone. My heart goes out to this young mans family.